Gareth Bale’s China deal has collapsed dramatically with Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning choosing to sign Brazilian defender Miranda from Inter Milan and Croatian striker Ivan Santini from Belgian club Anderlecht. Jiangsu already has five foreign players on its payroll and are now unwilling to sign the beleaguered Welshman who was offered £1 million-a-week for a three-year contract. Bale who is visibly angry at Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane in the manner the situation was handled, skipped the club’s pre-season trip to Germany out of frustration at being unable to secure an exit from the Bernabeu.

The Welsh star failed to take part in a pre-season game against Tottenham Hotspur in Munich a few days earlier citing health issues as an excuse but was seen chilling it out at a golf course. Despite the cold vibes between Zidane and Bale, the latter was seen re-joining Real Madrid’s practice sessions on Friday. With Los Blancos’ hopes of offloading the 30-year old four-time Champions League winner dwindling fast, Bale has left the ball in club management’s court to decide his future at the Bernabeu. The Bale saga has soured things to such an extent that there are differences of opinion cropping up now between club president Florentino Perez and Zidane.

Meanwhile, Juventus and ex-Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has urged team-mate Paulo Dybala to move to Manchester United. A swap deal between United striker Romelu Lukaku and Dybala is rumoured to be in the works and Ronaldo has advised the Argentine forward to lend his consent to it. Dybala has been at the club for four years, scoring 78 times in 182 matches, winning the Serie A title each season, but has been somewhat overshadowed by the arrival of Ronaldo to Turin. The Portuguese icon is said to have told Dybala that he himself became a “champion” during his highly successful six-year spell with Manchester United and there is no reason why he too could become one at Old Trafford.

As Manchester United get ready to sign centre-back Harry Maguire, there’s still doubts and disagreement over the huge £80 million asking price Leicester City have slapped for the 25-year old. United who have conceded as many as 54 goals in the 2018-19 season, which is more than any club in the Top ten, desperately want a quality defender. Although MaGuire has a promising future, critics feel he is nowhere in the league of someone like Virgil van Djik of Liverpool and it would be tough on the English youngster to justify the steep price the Red Devils are willing to fork out for him. Maguire is due to have his medical test at Carrington over the weekend ahead of a deal being confirmed early next week.